Three Sharp Tines
by Biel
Summary: It was the whispering Parvati had dreaded the most. Well, not the most, but the other thing, the loneliness, she was trying desperately to ignore.


**AU fic in JKR's Harry Potter world, inspired by Rurouni Star's challenge**** in her LJ community, cookienook. **

**Please enjoy :)  
**

* * *

"You don't look very happy about that," her father said, watching her pick at the tablecloth with her fork.

"You're an idiot if you thought I would be," she muttered, digging her fork deeper into the plastic.

He said nothing because he agreed with her and shortly after he stood up and carried his untouched plate to the sink. She heard him carefully go outside, making sure the door made no noise as it shut because _neither_ of them wanted her mother to wake up. Even the strongest sleeping draughts had only succeeded in sending the woman a light slumber.

Parvati Patil stayed at the table for a long time, picking hole after hole, but she never heard her father come back.

…..

It was the whispering Parvati had dreaded the most. Well, not the most, but the other thing, the loneliness, she was trying desperately to ignore.

Mr. Patil dropped Parvati off at King's Cross early on September 1. She found this was a mixed blessing; she was glad to avoid the crowd and settled herself into the very last compartment, hoping she wouldn't have to talk to anyone. As time passed though, half an hour, an hour ( _did we really come _that _early?_), she felt the silence pushing down on her and almost looked up in relief when the compartment door opened and a group of younger kids she didn't know entered.

They ignored her and she them as the train gave a final warning whistle and started off toward Hogwarts. However, after a while a couple of the girls started whispering and staring at Parvati as she sat in a corner, head pressed against the cool glass window. Maybe they noticed the shadows on her face that never seemed to go away, no matter how much sleeping draught she nicked from her mother. Maybe they recognized her; an article had been published in the Daily Prophet after it happened. Maybe she was being paranoid; maybe they didn't notice her at all.

She soon decided that the gleeful shouts and excited chattering of children reunited with friends issuing from the rest of the compartment were far worse anyway. She closed her eyes and tried to shut them out, but their laughter was grating on her brain. Finally, she could take it no more and abruptly stood up, rushing out the door past the surprised students.

Parvati went toward the bathroom, where she hoped it would be quiet, _but not too quiet, _she found herself thinking contradictorily. As she was rushing in there however, she ran into Hannah Abbott, a Hufflepuff in her same year, and this time there was no mistaking the pity in her gaze. Parvati pushed past her and locked herself into a stall, cursing her parents- her dad for making her come back to Hogwarts this year, her mum for being unconscious for pretty much the entire summer.

She managed to skip out on the Feast by hiding in a bathroom just outside the Great Hall until the corridor was empty. She knew she would have to face the rest of the Gryffindors, but for now she just wanted to avoid that.

Originally, Parvati had intended to head up to her dormitory and bed, but when the fat lady, who looked surprised at Parvati's early arrival, asked for the password, she realized how stupid she'd been. There was no way she was going to the Great Hall _now_, when the feast was in full swing, so she resigned herself to wait until the rest of the Gryffindors showed up and try to slip in unnoticed.

She'd been waiting for nearly an hour, and had managed to poke quite a large hole in the sleeve of her robe, thinking bitterly of the Ravenclaw common room which was opened by answering a riddle, when Nearly Headless Nick glided to a halt in front of her. She jumped up, relieved at her good luck. The ghost opened his mouth, probably to ask why she wasn't at the feast, but she interrupted him.

"Do you know the password?" she asked, ignoring the pity she heard when he answered (Peruvian Vipertooth), and hurrying up to the 6th year dorms, barely glancing at the cushy armchairs and already roaring fire in the common room.

…..

Parvati had managed to avoid her roommates last night by feigning sleep. It was unfortunate that she had such trouble in _actually_ falling asleep; Parvati leaned against her headboard, wide awake, long after Lavender and Hermione had gotten into bed and fallen asleep. She was reluctant to use up her limited supply of draught, and she doubted that Madame Pomfrey would give her more.

She had fallen asleep eventually though, and slept right through her plan of rising early. When she woke, she ignored Hermione's wary greeting and Lavender's look of awkward discomfort. Now as she changed into her school robes she could feel Hermione and Lavender exchanging looks behind her, the two very different girls uncharacteristically in tune with each other.

"Parvati," Lavender pleaded as she made to leave, and she looked at them despite herself. Lavender had tried to write a few times over the summer, but as her owl kept returning without a reply, she eventually stopped. As Parvati stood staring at her, it seemed the girl had nothing to say, so she turned and left.

Ignoring the smell of eggs and toast that drifted from the Great Hall, Parvati made straight for her first class. To her surprise, it wasn't empty. Harry Potter sat slumped in one of the desks and she found herself speaking voluntarily for the first time in weeks.

"You're not hungry either?" He was startled to see her, she could tell, startled at the way her once-long hair was now cut as short as his, and probably just as messy. It seemed like ages since she'd worried over her appearance. His eyes sought hers, and she knew that he could sense the same anguish that she saw in his.

"Not really," he said, sounding somewhat hoarse, as though he'd been shouting. "I'm sorry," he said softly.

And she didn't feel the usual anger or resentment that usually followed those words because she knew that Harry Potter was feeling the exact way she was.

"Me too," she whispered, and she wasn't sure if she meant for Harry or herself or for both of them.

…..

It was hard to describe how she felt. She didn't feel _better_, doubted she ever would, but she did feel more capable of handling things. The looks, the whispers-she managed them. To her surprise, she found herself walking through the doors of the Great Hall at dinnertime, found herself nodding a greeting to Lavender, who had looked up as she sat at the Gryffindor table.

Most surprising of all, after dinner she found herself sobbing in her best friend's arms while Hermione gingerly patted her on the back.

…..

Parvati looked at the fork she held in her hand. She didn't remember sticking it in her trunk, but while she was rummaging inside for a pair of socks, it had pricked her hand painfully. A drop of her blood still glinted on the end of one of the sharp tines. It came from the set that Padma had picked out for the Patils' anniversary last year. The ornate thing wasn't really to her taste, but it had been Padma's idea…

With a start Parvati realized that this was the first time she'd been able to think of her twin without that bitter ache in her chest. She made to throw the fork back in her chest, but decided instead to place it on her dresser. As she turned the light off and headed for the common room, the fork's three sharp tines glinted at her, almost as though they were saying farewell.


End file.
